Trimming machine knife guard supporting and operating mechanism



TRIMMING MACHINE KNIFE GUARD SUPPORTING ,AND OPERATING MECHANISM Fild Nov. 15, 1935 Lam 4 2 i L L i 7 Q;- INVENTOR.

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- t Q I Patented Nov. 16, 1937 2&9959315 'ifilMll/ENG MACHINE KNIFE GUARD SUP- PURTING AND OPERATING MECHANISM Herbert R. Polleys, New Haven, Conn, assignor to United States Rubber Products, Inc, New

York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Appiication November 13, 1935, Serial No. 49,548

Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for supporting and operating a knife guard particularly for use in machines for trimming the upper portion of rubber footwear.

5 In the manufacture of rubber footwear the upper portion is formed with a bead extending around its upper edge and normally a portion of the lining extends beyond this bead which is trimmed away along the outer edge of the bead.

In general practice a reciprocating knife is used to sever the extending lining, and a guard is provided for protecting the operators hands from the knife and is also used to assist the operator in guiding the upper portion of the shoe along a pre etermined line underneath the knife. In order to properly guide the shoe upper, the outer edge of the bead contacts with the bottom end of the guide and acts as a stop for guiding the outer edge of the bead in alignment with the knife or offset therefrom. Heretofore the guard was adjusted in a fixed position in reference to the upper surface of the footwear. As the bottom end of the guard encountered thick portions of the shoe upper it could not ride over such portions and the cutting operation had to be discontinued at such points. Such thick portions had to be severed manually with a knife before the cutting operation could be continued beyond such points.

In accordance with this invention the knife guard is resiliently maintained in contact with the upper surface of the shoe upper or slightly spaced therefrom and when it contacts with such thick portions as may be caused by seams in the shoe upper, it rides over these portions and the cutting operation is not interrupted. For the purpose of raising the guard over excessively thick portions manual means is provided for lifting the guard during the cutting operation.

A further advantage of this invention is the provision of means for removing the knife guard from the knife so that it may be easily cleaned and/or adjusted.

This invention will be more clearly understood by referring to the following description and the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a front end View of a trimming machine showing a mechanism for supporting 50 and operating a knife guard embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a right side view of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figure 1 and illustrating the position of the knife guard when removed from the knife; and

Figure 4 illustrates the reciprocating knife and knife guard in operation upon the shoe upper. V

This invention is illustrated in reference to a 5 mechanism for trimming shoe uppers as illustrated in United States Patent No. 1,535,373. As illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the shoe upper 5 is provided with a head or binding 6 and excess lining portion i which is supported upon a rotatable head 8 having a circumferential knife groove 9 formed therein. The reciprocating knife iii is secured by means of a screw H to the reciprocating bar I2 carried in guides l3, l4 on the head E5. The rotatable head 8 and the reciprocating bar ii? are respectively operated by shafts i5 and i! driven from the trimming machine i'ia shown in outline in dotand-dash lines in Fig. l. The knife guard i8 travels along the outer edge of the bead 5 and guides the edge underneath the reciprocating knife IE3. The knife guard 58 is secured by screws 59 to a pivotal support 29. The support 29 is mounted on a pin 2! pivotally supported in a yoke 22. The support 26 carrying the knife guard 18 is adapted to move up and down between the arms 23 and 24 of the yoke 22. For this purpose the pin 2! is provided with a head 25 having a circumferential groove 26 formed therein for the reception of the bifurcated ends 21 of a lever 28 which is adapted to actuate the pin and the support 20 carried thereby. The lever 28 is pivoted intermediate its ends on a bolt 30 which is secured in the machine head l5. The upper arm 3! of the lever 28 having the bifurcated ends 2'1 formed thereon operates the pin 2| up and down and the lower arm 32 of the lever 28 extends downwardly and is connected by a spring 33 to a hook 3 3 secured to the machine frame iia. The spring 33 normally pulls the lower arm 32 upwardly and maintains the knife guard IS in its lowermost position.

A foot-operated pedal 35 is connected to the arm 32 to actuate it in opposition to the spring 33 in order to move the knife guard l8 over the excessively thick portions of the shoe upper when encounter-ed thereby. The pedal 35 is pivoted in a bracket 36 secured to the machine foundation or the frame of the machine. The upper end of the foot pedal 35 is connected to the lower arm 32 of the lever 28 by means of a link 31.

The knife guard support 29 is provided with an enlarged head 38 which extends between the arms 23 and 24 of the yoke 22. The up and down motion of the support 20 may be limited 55 reception of the bifurcated ends 21 of the lever 28, the support ZO-may be rotated about the axis of the pin 2| by releasing the retaining clip 42 secured by screw 43 to the guide l3 and moving the clip to the position as shown in Fig. 3.. The guard I8 is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown. In this position the operator can have free access to the knife blade H] for cleaning and adjusting it.

While the preferred form of this invention has been described herein, it will be understood that 7 changes in the details may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention, and it is intended to protect all the features of the invention that fall within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rubber shoe trimming machine, a mechanism for operating a knife guard, comprising a movable support secured to said guard, means for normally resiliently holding saidguard in a predetermined relation with the surface of the work; means for moving said guard in opposition to' said resilient holding meansand adjustable stops acting upon said support for positively limiting the movement of said guard toward and away from said work.

2. In a shoe trimming machine having a reciprocating knife and a guard therefor, a support for said guard pivoted on an axis substantially parallel to the reciprocating movement of said knife to permit pivotal movement of said guard in reference to said knife, means for normally resiliently holding said guard against the surface of the work, means for moving said guard away from the work in opposition to said resilient holding means, adjustable means for positively limiting the movement of said guard toward and away from the work.

3. In a shoe trimming machine having a reciprocating knife and a guard therefor, a support for said guard pivoted on an axis substantially parallel to the reciprocating movement of said knife, means for retaining said support in its operative pivotal position and releasing said support for pivotal movement in reference to said knife, means for resiliently pressing said support towards the work, foot operated means for movingv said support away from said work in opposition to said resilient means, and adjustable means for positively limiting the movement of said support toward and away from saidwork.

4. Ina trimming machine having a-knife and a guard therefor, a yoke secured to said machine, a support for said guard pivotally mounted in said yoke, means for resiliently pressing said support towards thework, and adjustable means in, said yoke for limiting the movement of said support therein.

5. Ina trimming machine having a reciprocating knife and a guard therefor, a movable support for carrying said guard, a yoke secured to said machine, a pivot pin secured to said support and pivoted in said yoke, means for'operating said-pin up and down with respect to said yoke, means for limiting the up and down movement of said pin, and means for-securing said support in its guarding position and for releasingsaid support for pivotal movement about said pin.

HERBERT R. POLLEYS. 

